


Safety Last

by sin_grumps



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Comfort, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-08-15 05:09:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8043748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sin_grumps/pseuds/sin_grumps
Summary: Come on. Internet ghost stories? Please, those aren't scary... [[ High School AU!  ]]





	Safety Last

If someone were to ask him why he even started doing this, he wouldn’t be able to give a straight simple answer. Maybe it was because of a dare he only just then remembered. Or it might have been linked to him ages ago and he just now opened it.

Whatever the case, Jon is currently hunched up on his desk chair in his dark room, watching stupid ghost stories on the internet. It’s more for the atmosphere, really, because he’s heard so many people at school talk about some of this stuff but he’s never had the guts—or, well, time—to actually look for it himself. Well tonight, he’s going to go all in for it. Because honestly, what are a bunch of fake videos trying to be creepy going to do to him? Fake videos of ghost sightings, bad photo edits of mutilations, abandoned houses with grainy filters, low-quality VHS edits, it’s harmless.

He snorts to himself the more he watches Mickey Mouse walk to the right of the screen, and wonders what the point even is with all those filters in these videos. And that stupid out-of-tune piano in this one is just annoying if anything, it’s not scary. Hell, even when the screams start (“nice audio layering!” he says once the obvious samples all come together), everything is getting grating. The hopping, twitchy visuals are hurting his eyes and all that coupled with the screams is giving him a headache, so when the thing finally ends, he lets out a sigh of relief. Not because it scared him, of course, but because it was just an honest-to-fuck attack on the senses.

Jon takes a moment to readjust and then looks at some of the recommended videos. One of them is apparently a Sonic thing, and the thumbnail is fucking hilarious. “Ooh this is gonna be good,” he says to himself as he clicks the link, eager to see and hear how Sonic can’t even make a good ghost story.

And it can’t. Even with the atmosphere of the video (that person doing the narrating and footage editing is trying their best!) it only ends up making him laugh so hard he has to cough. What the hell was that even supposed to be? Because if it was supposed to scare him, it majorly failed.

Suddenly finding himself enjoying the hilarity of the bad ones, Jon seeks out some more video game related stuff. It’s all pretty much the same. “The cartridge was _haunted_!!” “The character on screen _talked_ to me!!” “The enemies were _crying blood_!!” “The player character _killed themselves_!!” By the time he reaches the fifth story with the same ending, he’s had enough of that shit.

“C’mon, you can do better than that,” he says to his screen, deciding to go for more of those “lost episodes” ones like the Mickey one. And just like with the video game stuff, they’re all pretty much the same. “The interns saw it and were horrified and it was never seen again!!” “The main character commits suicide!!” “Anyone who watched it felt sick so it was taken off the air!!” “Test audiences fled so it was never shown!!” And for fuck’s sake, the amount of times he has to see the word ‘photorealistic’ is just insulting.

There is one thing that kind of gets to him, though. Some guy in his room with actual eyes and lips talking creepily to the audience about doing stuff alone. It’s more unsettling than scary, and as much as he wants to find the face funny (because it’s just so fucking stupid looking), Jon can’t help but feel uneasy as the video ends.

The related “if the devil had a YouTube account” video piques his interest, if only for the idiotic premise, and he watches. And actually. It’s kinda freaky. Like, a lot freaky. His room is already dark and he’s been wearing headphones the whole time, but he’s beginning to regret that now, because this thing is genuinely disturbing. Unlike the Mickey thing, where it was distorted the whole time, in this one it’s gradual. And that’s what’s so freaky about it.

“Fuck!” Jon exclaims as the video comes to an abrupt end, and throws his headphones off. “It’s not- fucking- Ugh!” He rubs at his face for a moment, and convinces himself that if he can do this all in one go, in the dark, home alone, then he’ll be satisfied. Because fuck, all those guys at school who say they’ve done this probably did it in a pack, or like with the lights on, or with someone home. So fuck it, that’s a good enough reason to continue.

The next thing he finds is narrated, and he almost wants to adjust the brightness on his monitor in order to see the supposedly creepy photo it’s talking about, but decides against it. The whole thing is ridiculous (floppy disks and curses? Please) but there’s something about the narrator’s voice and just the tiniest flickering they do to the photo that makes his hands tremble just a little bit. Not that he’s scared or anything, of course, but it’s uncomfortable. The last version of the image and the thing about forwarding it to end the curse and dream hauntings and blahblah is what makes him shut it off. It’s both ridiculous and uncanny. That photoshop was way too exaggerated and red. It’s his inner editing self that’s whining about it.

That’s why it sticks in his head, right?

Like, of course it’s got nothing to do with the curse thing. Because there is no curse. There’s no such thing. Yeah, and because he shut it off while the image was still on, that’s why his brain is all “hey yeah that was the last thing you saw by the way!” Yeah! That’s all it is. Just an uncanny smiling husky. Curses, puh. What a load of bullshit.

He’s not scared, of course. It’s just dark in his room and that picture was super overly saturated.

A supposed Mario hack is what catches his eye next. He opens it (after some mental preparations—not because he’s scared, but because like, it’s probably shitty) and again it’s a narrated gameplay video like the Sonic thing. Except it’s not so much about what’s actually happening on-screen as it is about what’s on the ROM’s accompanying files. An odd deviation from the usual haunted cartridge but alright, Jon will take that. Some text file is converted into an image, and they play a fucking scare chord when they show it, which is the only reason Jon lets out a scream. Literally the only reason! Like, the picture itself is a horrified, red, grainy face (is it human? Fuck, he can’t tell), and yeah the video says something about a victim or whatever, but the scare chord was the only reason Jon screamed.

He’s totally not fucking scared. Not of some internet videos that are barely even real. He’s just spooked after the scare chord, which is why his heart’s pumping a bit harder.

It’s just- atmosphere.

He hears something outside his headphones, and takes them off again, looking around his room even though he can barely see anything. It’s probably just a tree. Or the AC. He’s home alone and everything’s locked, there’s no way someone’s fucking around in the hallway or something. So why is he starting to tremble again? And his heart still pounding hard? He dismisses it all, and blindly follows another recommended link.

Great. Another distorted red image. There’s an annotation about the full story being in the description, and Jon rolls his eyes. Great. At least the narrators added something to their videos, even though sometimes they tried a bit too hard to be scary. So he reads the damn thing (it’s short, thankfully), and it doesn’t so much scare him as it grosses him out. But okay, video time. He knows what to expect because of the story, so he just watches and waits.

And it’s-

“Fuck.”

Just another bad photoshop job. That’s all it is. It’s just video editing and manipulation made to fool people into thinking it’s scary. That’s why it’s grainy. That’s why the footage shakes. That’s why the guy’s grin looks so uncanny. It’s got nothing to do with the story, the story isn’t real, the video it references isn’t real, the guy in the video was probably just picked because he had a cool scary face, the filter and sound is what does it, he’s not affected by any of it, it’s just nocebo from reading the story, and because the video ended so abruptly is why he’s still thinking about it, nothing about it is real, it’s all just stories, it’s not real.

He’s breathing hard now, but that doesn’t mean he’s scared. He’s just- tired. From all the jumpscares. Yeah, that’s it.

Jon wills his hand not to shake as he clicks another link, and thank fuck it’s got a narrator again. Something about Adult Swim’s warning card or something, and about how it always got cut off by someone working there, blahblah, sometime someone wasn’t there and it got played and then never again because it scarred children or whatever. Okay yeah, fuck it, basic stuff, he can do that.

Except no.

The still image is creepy as all hell, and the sad, scared eyes make him feel terrified. The split second at the end spooks him so much on top of everything else he’s seen that he yells, pushes his chair away from his desk and throws his headphones off again.

He stands up and finally gives in to turning the light on, pacing his room trying to calm himself down. Because fucking shit now he’s like properly anxious. He exits the room, and the darkness of the rest of the house is horrifying now. All those still images and stupid sloppy edits are still in his head, and he keeps seeing them out of the corners of his eyes whenever he turns. His breath catches and he feels cold sweat on his skin as he hears a click and an ominous hum coming from one of the rooms, and he’s almost ready to scream until he remembers it’s just the fridge. Or maybe he did scream, maybe that’s why his ears are buzzing and creepy screams and grainy music are stuck in his head.

Fuck this, sleep will make it better.

Jon hastily gets ready for bed, and makes sure that any and all sounds he’s hearing are within reason (the AC, the stray cats, the fridge, the pipes, the small amount of traffic outside) before he wills himself to close his eyes and try to sleep. It’ll be better once the sun comes out and he doesn’t have to rely on artificial light.

His eyes open right back up when all he can think about is that fucking filter on the Mickey one, the screams accompanying it. Fuck. He tries again, ignoring the fact that his forehead feels like he’s dipped it into a freezing pool.

No luck again, this time the fucking Mario text thing. He breathes hard through his nose. Why is any of this getting to him? He’s sixteen, he should be able to handle this shit! Or at the very least be able to go the fuck to sleep after it. Take three, this time taking no notice of how hard his heart is beating.

He shoots up in his bed when all he can see behind closed eyes is that fucking grinning red guy. He can’t fucking do this. His hands are shaking again. What the hell is he supposed to do? He can’t just bail and call his parents like “hey sorry to interrupt your weekend trip but can you come back please?” because that would be fucking stupid. And he’s sure as hell not going to call up the neighbor like his folks said he should do if anything came up. Fuck that, he’s not going to be the neighborhood baby just for watching creepy shit.

He reaches for his phone anyway, and without thinking calls the first number on his contacts list. There’s a little familiar jingle along with the wait tune, and Jon starts inwardly chanting “pick up pick up pick up pick up” as he waits. He then hears a small click, which almost makes him feel like he’s outwaited it all, until he hears a groggy voice.

“Jon, what the fuck, it’s like four in the morning.”

“Arin, hi!” Jon replies, far too fast and far too enthusiastically. “How is it? You good? Good! So hey listen I’m, uh- I know it’s late, or like early or whatever, but like, I was thinking since- since like, I don’t have anyone at home, you don’t have anywhere to go, like–” His mouth is going a mile a minute, and he has absolutely no idea what he’s even building up to.

“Wait whoa, slow down,” Arin says before letting out a yawn. “Hold on, it’s- yeah it’s way too far into the night for you to be this awake right now. What the hell’s going on?”

Jon swallows, just then noticing how dry his throat is. “Nothing’s going on, just- I’m kinda, like, not in a good place, or like, I am, it’s no big deal, nothing happened, I just, I’m…” Jon trails off, finding himself out of breath.

“Hey are you okay?” Arin then asks, and Jon totally would’ve appreciated the concern in his voice if he wasn’t already so shaken. “You sound really upset. Is something wrong?”

“I- I’m–” Jon begins, and then bites his lip. This is torture. He curls up under his blanket as if that’s going to help, and then responds in a quiet, shaky whisper: “I’m scared.”

“What?”

Oh for fuck’s sake. “I’m fuckin’… I’m alone and I’m fucking scared,” Jon repeats, feeling his face flush on top of everything else that his body is doing. Like okay fuck, now is not the time.

“Did your parents leave?” Arin says, as if accusing them of actually leaving him behind.

“Nono, Jesus, no,” Jon replies. “I mean yeah they’re not here but like, that’s not why I’m… I’m scared.” God he hates to admit it so much. “I was watching these, like, creepypasta stuff, and they kinda, fuckin’, left an impression.”

“Do you want me to come and sleep over?” Arin then immediately offers, and just the fact that Jon didn’t have to ask for it makes him let out a sigh of relief.

“Yes,” he instantly croaks out before he can stop himself. “If that’s okay.”

“Dude it’s fine, I’m not gonna just leave you there when you’re freaked out like that,” Arin says, and Jon hears some rummaging about on the other line before Arin speaks again. “I’ll be over in just a few, alright? I’ll keep you s- company. I’ll keep you company.”

“Okay, thank you,” Jon says and then hangs up, letting out a heavy breath. What the hell is he doing? Calling Arin to come over in the middle of the night, what the fuck is wrong with him? He rubs his face again, hating the fact that he got flushed during that call. But he can’t help it. Being scared because of fucking internet videos has got to be the most embarrassing thing of all time. That and, well, one other thing.

A couple of minutes later and Jon is still curled up terrified in his bed when he hears the doorbell ring. He jumps up, still spooked and hyperaware of any and all sudden sounds. Once again he has to trek the dark hallway, and once again he has to remind himself that all that humming is is just the fridge and that the red photoshops are not going to jump out of the walls. He opens the door, and as soon as he sees Arin’s figure stand in front of him, he feels better.

Arin smiles. “Man, you really do look like shit,” he says as he makes his way inside, not towards Jon’s bedroom but the kitchen, turning on the light. “C’mon, let’s get you calmed down a little.”

Jon just kind of stands there watching as Arin digs around in the kitchen as if he lives there (well he practically does, he’s always over), bringing out a kettle and a cup. “I know you don’t like chamomile but you’re gonna have to suck it up this time, alright?” Arin says and Jon nods, prepared to accept anything and everything Arin offers him. “Why did you even start doing that? The creepypasta thing?”

“I don’t know,” Jon says as he slumps down into one of the kitchen chairs. “Like, I guess it started with me being all curious or whatever and then just kinda- escalated, I guess. And now it’s all like, stuck in my head or whatever, and it’s scaring the shit out of me.”

“Did you see any of the stupid ones?” Arin asks as he prepares the cup, waiting for the kettle to boil. “Like there’s this one Mario thing where—”

“I watched a Mario one, it wasn’t stupid,” Jon interrupts quickly, shaking his head.

“Okay,” Arin says, his voice calm, and places his hand on Jon’s shoulder. Jon almost hates how soothing it is to have it there. To have Arin there. Actually no he doesn’t hate it at all, he really likes it. He wants Arin there. “Okay, we don’t have to talk about it. Not even the stupid ones you didn’t see. You can watch those with me sometime, how about that?”

Jon manages to smile a little at that, and tentatively pats Arin’s hand on his shoulder despite how much it makes him blush. “That’d be awesome.” And it totally would be. God, Jon can’t help but imagine how much different this night would have been if he had just called Arin sooner and watched all of that crap with him. Then maybe he wouldn’t be so shaken. Then maybe he would’ve been able to grab onto Arin for some grounding when he got spooked. Then maybe he would’ve felt safe.

Like he does now.

Arin walks over to the counter to prepare Jon’s tea and hands it to him. “Here, now let’s try and sleep this whole thing off.”

Jon nods, accepting the tea (fuck, chamomile is so gross) and leading the way to his room. Once there, Arin immediately goes to turn on Jon’s bedside lamp (how had Jon not thought of that, what the fuck) and then makes himself comfortable on the bed, sitting up and motioning for Jon to join him. Cup in hand, Jon does just that, and sits on top of the covers, not sure if he should even be allowed to be this close to Arin at this point. Or at all. What is he doing? What has he done?

“If it makes you feel any better, I’ve done something similar,” Arin says, and Jon jerks his head towards him in surprise. Arin chuckles. “Well yeah! I mean, who’s not gonna get curious when it’s all kids at school talk about? And it’s like, okay, some of these are kinda cool and well written, but some of it is just complete crap. Like have you seen how many there are about haunted game cartridges that are found at flea markets or shady yard sales?”

At that, Jon can’t help but chuckle as well. “I did see a bunch of those, yeah,” he says, and God it’s so nice having Arin here. Just his damn presence is calming Jon down considerably. Or maybe it’s the tea.

“Oh and don’t get me started on all the Pokemon ones,” Arin continues with a playful groan. “Like okay, I know it’s popular and I know things can be scary about it, but there’s only so many times I can read the words ‘Lavender Town’ before I just give up on humanity.”

Jon laughs, and it feels so good. He’s not nearly as scared anymore. He hands Arin the now empty cup to put on the nightstand, and Arin smiles at him. “Feeling better?” he asks, and Jon nods. “Good. Now okay, I know this is gonna be super weird but just stay with me on this. Tonight, we’re gonna share a bed,” he adds and gasps overdramatically at Jon’s wide-eyed expression (because holy shit!). “I know, right? But it’s all fine, it’s just a friend helping a friend out. And to keep you- keep you company.”

The thought of sharing a bed— _his_ bed—with Arin is enough to get Jon’s heart to start pumping hard again, but thankfully this time it’s a bit more pleasant. He also notices that it’s the second time that Arin seems to stumble over the whole keeping company thing, which is kinda weird. Because he does want to be here, right? Well, yeah, of course, he wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble if he didn’t. Jon dares to get under the covers and settles down, trying not to think about any of the goddamn images that kept him awake earlier. “Thanks, man,” he then says, and actually manages a yawn.

“Anytime, dude,” Arin replies softly, and Jon is probably imagining the slight pressure he feels on his hair before it disappears. He’s probably just too tired to register how heavy his head feels.

With Arin there, and with the assurance that he’s not crazy for having been scared of all this, Jon can finally drift off to sleep, feeling so much safer than before.

* * *

_He blearily opens his eyes, and to his dismay it’s still dark. He reaches over to where his phone is to check the time, only his arm doesn’t want to cooperate. It flops back onto the mattress like a rubber hose, and he can’t move it. Okay now he’s freaking out. Because his arm doesn’t feel like he’s been sleeping on it, it’s just, unmoving. And so is the rest of him. He can’t move. He wants to reach out, call out to Arin, but he can’t. His mouth won’t open. He stares up at the ceiling, shaking and beginning to sweat as a familiar image starts morphing before his eyes._

_He would recognize that awful, stretched out grin anywhere. It’s dark, it’s the first version, and Jon knows it’s going to distort. There’s a hand behind it, beckoning to him. Jon wills for his body to move, for Arin to wake up, for him to be saved._

_Jon just looks ahead, it’s all he can do. He can’t even close his eyes at this point, and he’s so scared he can barely breathe. The smile stretches, the image reddening, and Jon can hear various whispers and assorted sounds._

_‘You know me, Jon,’ it says, and Jon wants to scream. ‘You know me now. This is your life. Your nights. I will be here.’ It’s reaching its most demonic form, and it’s coming closer as it speaks. ‘Spread the word, Jon.’ It opens its horrendously large jaw, the once straight white teeth now sharp and covered in some kind of ooze as it overs over him. ‘Spread the word and I will leave you alone, Jon.’_

_He lets out a silent scream as it completes its change, the grin somehow widening._

_‘SPREAD THE WORD, JON!’_

* * *

“Jon!”  

He’s found his voice again, and attempts to let out a scream, but it still doesn’t work properly. It scares him even more, his breathing is uneven and sharp. He’s being shaken, and his limbs are working, and oh God it’s not pitch black in the room anymore.

“Jesus, Jon, are you okay?” he hears, and his hand is being held, and without thinking he clutches it back.

Jon glances up at Arin, who is looking at him like he just saw him die. He sits up, still trembling, and throws his arms around Arin before he can think any further. If he was any more shaken, he would probably be crying now. And maybe he is, he doesn’t really know. Everything is still so hazy and disoriented, so all he can do is cling onto Arin as he desperately tries to even out his breathing.

“Hey it’s okay,” Arin says, his voice somehow calm and soothing, as he holds onto Jon. “It’s okay, you’re safe, I’m here.” There’s a slight pause, and then Arin tightens his hold. “I’m here.”

Jon feels so fucking stupid. Not just for having a nightmare about one of those goddamn stories, but for being so upset by it. Arin starts rubbing circles on his back, and it calms him down a little bit. Part of him wants to let go to give Arin some space, but he’ll be fucking damned if he does, because it’s helping so much.

“Just take your time, buddy,” Arin tells him, and damn it it’s making Jon’s heart flutter. “You’re okay.”

They stay like that for a while, with Jon calming down and Arin showing no signs of wanting to back away. It helps ground Jon, and when he finally does unwrap himself from Arin he feels leagues better. “Sorry ‘bout that,” he mumbles, embarrassed about his outburst.

“No worries, it’s okay,” Arin says, and Jon’s not sure if Arin is aware of it, but he takes his hand again. Jon doesn’t say anything about it. “You alright?”

“Think so,” Jon replies, and rubs his eyes. “Just. Fuck those pics, y’know?”

“Oh boy do I know,” Arin says, and oh God he’s gently brushing his thumb over Jon’s hand, this is crazy but it’s so nice does he know he’s doing it? “Think you’re ready to try and sleep again?”

Jon nods. “Yeah, just- I’m kinda thinking, y’know, about…” He purses his lips, and knows he’s blushing hard as he’s saying this. “Like, if I could, maybe, like, I dunno… hold you?” He can’t look at Arin after saying that. He just can’t.

“Oh! Uh- uh, yeah, sure!” Arin says, and okay what, Jon was not expecting that kind of a response. He dares to look up, and is it just him or is Arin blushing too? “Yeah no problem, dude, whatever makes you feel safe.”

At that, Jon can’t help but smile, and gives Arin’s hand a small squeeze. “I know it’s awkward but like, it could help,” he says as he lies back down, Arin following soon after.

“Yeah, whatever helps,” Arin says, sounding like he can’t breathe, as he lies down on his back. Jon rests his head on his shoulder and lies on his side, his heart going a mile a minute as they position themselves. He then tentatively puts his free arm around Arin, and is greeted by an arm around his shoulders. “This okay?”

“Very,” Jon says, despite the fact that he couldn’t be more nervous about this. Well, better to be nervous with your crush than terrified on your own, he supposes. “You?”

“Oh yeah, it’s all good,” Arin replies, and Jon swears he hears him take in a sharp breath as he dares to wrap one leg around Arin’s. He’s probably imagining it, though. “I’m glad you called me, by the way.”

Jon tightens his hold on Arin ever so slightly despite himself. “Yeah? Why?”

“‘Cause I’d hate to know that you would’ve otherwise gone through all that by yourself,” Arin says, and oh God is he pulling Jon a little closer? That can’t be right. “Even if you’d probably never tell me, ‘cause you’re an asshole.”

Jon laughs. “Yeah well, here you are so shut up and let me try this sleep thing again,” he says, daring to snuggle a little bit up to Arin. God this is so nice. If those videos hadn’t genuinely terrified him so much, he would hands down do this all over again just to be able to be so close to Arin.

“Hey I said I was here to keep you company.”

Jon can’t help but smile at that. “Doing a good job of keeping me safe too.”

Arin is quiet for a second, and Jon momentarily wonders if he’s gone too far. But then he feels a slight pressure on the top of his head, and it’s like his face catches fire. “I want you to feel safe after all that, y’know. ‘S what I’m here for.”

Oh if Arin only knew. He’s there for so much else. Not just for company, not just for laughs, and certainly not just because he’s such a joy and so pleasant to be around. Just- so many things on such deeper levels that almost kind of scare Jon. Levels that Jon would be more than willing to tell him if he had the guts. But for now, feeling safe and warm is all that really matters.

He holds Arin closer, reveling in the intimacy of it all. Maybe someday he’ll be brave enough. Until then, this is more than enough. Jon closes his eyes, and for the first time that night, isn’t afraid.

“Thank you.”


End file.
